


We, are the crysta- wait, no... sorry, this is the U.A Hero Course

by Outcasts_Anonymous



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead is So Done, Also for the record half of these chapters are written when I'm sleep deprived, Alternate Universe - Fusion, And the other half is when I'm hopped up on like five energy drinks, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bakugou Katsuki is a Dork, Bisexual Kirishima Eijirou, Kirishima Eijirou Has One For All Quirk, Kirishima Eijirou Has Self-Esteem Issues, M/M, Married Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Mentor Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Dork, Midoriya Izuku is a Good Friend, Midoriya Izuku is a Nerd, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Protective Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Protective Bakugou Katsuki, So expect the writing quality to reflect that lmao, Soft Bakugou Katsuki, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24222004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outcasts_Anonymous/pseuds/Outcasts_Anonymous
Summary: Before the school year starts, Aizawa discovers that one of his potential students is two gays in a trench coat.Shenanigans ensue.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku
Comments: 83
Kudos: 626





	1. Two Gay's in a Trench Coat

With an exhausted groan, Enstatite shifted his hands from the top of the chair's backrest, to the sides, before with a heave he dragged it away from the principal's desk; making sure each of its wooden legs scraped hard and irritatingly across the floor. Behind him, closing the door with an equally exhausted groan of his own, one of U.A's teachers; Aizawa Shota, followed close behind. The man had been assigned to escort him through U.A's halls, and had yet to even say a word to him; something that Enstatite both admired, and hated.

"Ah! You're finally here! Would either of you like a drink before we get settled in?" Lugging his heavy frame around to sit in the chair, Enstatite for the briefest of moments felt his eyes widen and his heart-rate spike as the chair's legs bowed and groaned under his weight. Though, as soon as he was reassured that it wouldn't break under him, the look of irritation and boredom he had been wearing ever since he had opened the principal's email slid easily back into place.

"No thanks, rat; I just wanna get this settled," The man grumbled, crossing both sets of his arms with a huff; head turning to stare out of the wall-sized window that overlooked part of the school's courtyard.

"Aizawa?"

"No thank you, Nezu," Given how tired he already was, Aizawa didn't want to get roped into having tea with Nezu; he knew for a fact that if he accepted, he'd be stuck with the mammal for at least another few hours after the problem child was gone; time much better put to use sleeping.

"Very well then, I suppose we can begin now!" Enstatite and Aizawa had begun to butt-heads from almost the moment they had met each other, and there was very little they had found themselves able to agree upon- however in the instant the the principal had announced the beginning of the 'meeting', both could easily agree that the amount of cheeriness and energy Nezu held was grating.

Just as Aizawa had finished dragging his own chair from the side of the room to sit next to Enstatite, the man in question turned back to Nezu and gave him a rough nod, before bringing one of his upper hands to rub at his still dirty face

"First of all, Enstatite, I would like to congratulate you on your performance during the entrance exam; though understandable now that we know exactly what you are-" Enstatite was quick to shoot a glare at the fur-ball of a principal, though, it did little to nothing to actually intimidate him. "-It doesn't make what you accomplished any less impressive!" The compliment threw the man off pretty quickly, though, he was quick to recover. His bottom set of arms remained crossed, and his top set broke to allow his right to rub at his neck awkwardly. His eyes darting away slightly, the man stuttered for a second.

"Yeah, well... thanks, I guess- but it's pretty clear 'ya didn't call me here to sing me praises; you could'a done that in my acceptance letter! That's if I get one, I guess..." The snapping attitude that had started to rear its head again was quick to dampen itself by the end of his statement, and his look of indifference that seemed to come hand-in-hand with the man slipped ever-so-slightly into one of nervousness.

"Ah, don't worry about that; trust me when I say that we do in fact want you to attend this year; after all, it'd be very foolish of us to turn away such a promising hero-in-the-making, all because of a small issue such as this," Quick to reassure the man, Nezu reached for his cup of tea and took a drink; letting out a satisfied 'ah'.

" ** _I'm_** not the one making this an issue!" Enstatite snapped, quickly turning to glare down at the hero next to him. Aizawa merely stared back up at him with a tired glare of his own; the two entering an impromptu staring contest. Though, Aizawa did admittedly have a disadvantage, considering he only had two eyes, and Enstatite had four.

"Now now you two, I believe I have a way to solve this that both of you will agree to!" It took a moment for either man to back down, however when they did, all six eyes turned at once to stare at the principal, before their bodies followed suit.

"And what would that be?" Enstatite asked; eyes narrowing in suspicion; his hairs standing on end. There was something about the look in the mammal's eye in that moment that was setting off his fight or flight response, and if the way Aizawa had straightened out was anything to go by, it was doing the same to him.

"We'll let you remain as Enstatite in between lessons and on U.A ground, and quite obviously during hero training you'll be allowed to become Enstatite during team exercises, however during your ordinary school lessons such as English, Mathematics, science, history and the others, you must remain un-fused," The bottom set of his hands clenched tight into fists, and Enstatite let out a low, throaty growl- however before he could snap and say something he'd regret, all four of his eyes closed, and he sucked in a deep breath.

After a few seconds had passed the man let his breath go through his mouth, before slowly un-clenching his fists, and allowing his eyes to drift back open.

"That... that is... an _acceptable_ compromise... But I still don't understand why you're making me do this; it doesn't make sense! Enstatite is the perfect hero! With the nerd's brains, and the asshole's brawn there's nothing that can stop me! The only thing holding me back right now is my lack of training; something I can get _without_ un-fusing!"

"It's because if you fought someone like me, even with your 'training', you'd get your ass kicked." Aizawa deadpanned, not even bothered by what was essentially the giant throwing a tantrum. Said giant turned at his words; his unusually sharp teeth bared in a cheep imitation of a snarl.

"Explain."

"Even if you _were_ to get training, all it would take is for me to use my quirk on you from a distance, and you'd be done for- and even if you _did_ retain that training after un-fusing, your muscle memory wouldn't work properly because your bodies wouldn't be the same proportion." Aizawa droned, rolling his eyes as he pulled a juice packet from somewhere within his jumpsuit; unscrewing the top before chugging the whole thing.

"On top of that however, according to his file, Midoriya's quirk apparently isn't fully developed- and so it's our job as a hero school to, well, develop it; think of it as us trying to strengthen your two halves, so that you become even stronger as a whole!" Nezu chirped; clapping his paws together to once again catch their attention.

"Alright, well... _fine,_ I guess; if that's everything, can I go now? My mums' and dad were planning on celebrating how well I'd done when y'asked me to come back up here; if I'm gone any longer I'm gonna have to let 'em know,"

"Well then, you better message them since there _is_ something else we need you to do for us before we can let you into the hero course, when the time comes that is," Raising an eyebrow, Enstatite let out a huff before awkwardly putting all of his weight onto his left side; leaning into Aizawa's personal space, in order to retrieve his phone from his black sweatpants.

Passing the device up to his top set of hands, the man began to tap away at the screen with his comically disproportionate thumbs, and, as he brute-forced his way through his own phone, the room descended into an awkward silence; broken only occasionally by the pinging of incoming messages, and an annoyed grumble as Enstatite responded to them.

"Ugh... the old hag wants to know _why_ you're keeping me, and she says that if its because you have a problem with 'my lifestyle', then she's going to 'cover that weasel in tar and grain and leave him to the gulls'... I have _no_ idea what she's talking about but I can tell you she's one-hundred percent serious, so... what _do_ you want me to do?" The snort and stifled laughter from Aizawa was amusing in its own right; more so as the man began to choke on a second juice packet.

"Well, it's rather simple really; basically, we're going to need you to resit your written portion of the exam- or rather, we need _Midoriya_ and _Bakugou_ to sit their _own_ written exams. Though it wasn't an issue in the practical portion of the exam, being fused whilst taking the written part was deemed as cheating by the rest of the staff once it was discovered that you were two people in one..." Though he didn't produce as severe of a reaction as before, Enstatite still had to take a moment to breath lest he throw another tantrum.

"Alright, I'll let her know... and... and then I'll un-fuse, but just... I... We... We haven't _willingly_ -" Enstatite shot a quick glare at Aizawa once more. "-Un-fused in well over a year at this point, so... Can you give them... _us..._ a few minutes to collect ourselves before we start the exam?" It was clear that the man wasn't very keen on un-fusing; that much was completely obvious, but as Aizawa watched the giant stutter his way through his request, he couldn't help but notice his bottom set of hands had started to shake... Which meant there was more to their reluctance to un-fuse that he had initially realised, which meant... he was in for even _more_ of a headache when the school year started and Enstatite was inevitably put into his class.

Great.

"Oh, of course; that's plenty understandable, but... has it really been over a year since you last un-fused?" The 'That can't be healthy' remained unsaid, but Aizawa had been able to pick up on it.

"Yeah? I wouldn't have said it if it hadn't been; anyway, gimme a sec to message the hag..." Burying his head back into his phone, Enstatite began to aggressively type out a message to 'the old hag', and though he couldn't see it, Aizawa and Nezu had both shot each other a worried glance. Though both had gotten the gist that the two boys spent most of their time fused, neither had thought it had been this... _serious_. I mean, even Aizawa and Hizashi needed their alone time, and the two of them were fucking _married;_ he couldn't imagine what it would be like stuck inside of the same brain as the loud fucker; he'd have an _aneurysm_.

"Right... done; let's... let's get this over with..." Using his bottom set of arms to push himself out of his chair, Enstatite used his top right to put his phone back into his pocket; groaning as he stretched out his back. Seeing him stand, Aizawa did the same, and Nezu decided to clamber up onto his desk. The height difference between the three of them was rather comical, really; Aizawa only coming up to the underside of his lower arms, and Nezu, when not on his desk, barely standing above his ankle; in all honesty Enstatite was lucky he wasn't having to hunch over to fit in the room.

Feeling rather uncomfortable with all of the attention being directed at him; a polar opposite to his reaction during the practical, Enstatite rolled his shoulders and focused on keeping his breathing even. It felt as if his skin was beginning to crawl; every remaining drop of ignitable sweat that still clung to his skin suddenly made itself known, and the dark orange hoodie he had thrown on before coming back to the school suddenly felt far too tight, despite the fact that it was practically hanging off of him.

"A-Alright... Three, two... one-" In a flash, Nezu's office was flooded by a mix of orange and green light; spiralling across the walls and dancing across the faces of the two U.A faculty. Where Enstatite once stood was a mere amalgamous blob of pure, white energy that seemed to float around the air like water until, all at once, all of the lights stopped, and the white energy took its new form.

The two teenagers that had appeared when Aizawa had erased Enstatite's quirk the first time around were now back; one stood defiantly, and one stood meekly, where the light had once been. The difference now was that Aizawa could actually identify them.

Bakugou Katsuki, the taller of the two; spiked blond hair and the source of Enstatite's explosions, as well as his attitude if the brief few seconds he'd spent with the boy the first time around was anything to go off of. He was the brawn half of Enstatite, as the fusion had said himself.

The other was Midoriya Izuku; the source of Enstatite's odd skin colour, gem, intelligence, and overall existence. In Aizawa's opinion, Midoriya was the 'brawn' half of Enstatite, given that he was far more powerful, in terms of versatility, than Bakugou. The only thing holding him back was the fact that he couldn't fully use his quirk; according to his file, his gem did a lot more than just look pretty, but ever since figuring that out, he'd never been able to replicate any of the things he'd done. His gem was a peridot, and his skin colour was practically the same, though, muted- which is why Enstatite's skin is covered it scar-tissue-like patches of green.

"So, you two ready?" Both teen's heads snapped to Aizawa, and, as if they were still fused, both also spoke at the same time; one with a brash attitude, and one with a pleading voice. You can guess which.

"Just _gimme_ a _second!"_

Aizawa cast another glance to Nezu; his neck hurting from having to look up at the teen's fusion, and sighed. This was going to be one hell of a year; he could feel it.


	2. Pearl, Garnet and Ame... Oh, no, wait... Masaru, Mitsuki and Inko! :D

Using his two right arms to push open the door, the metal easily bent under Enstatite’s strength and the man, flanked on his left by Aizawa once more, though joined this time by Nezu himself on his right, finally stepped foot outside of UA for what would hopefully be the last time until the school year actually started. The door was supposed to be locked, and for all Enstatite knew it _was_ , but since it was designed to roll back into the wall anyway no one present said anything.

He had to bend down slightly to get through the door, and as the three of them were half way to the UA barrier, the man could hear Nezu speaking into his staff radio about having the door’s size altered. Part of him felt flattered that they’d go so far to accommodate him, especially since he wasn’t even technically a student there yet, but Enstatite didn’t bother to comment on it; after all, they had Cementos on the payroll- so it wasn’t exactly a hard task to do.

The rest of the walk was done in another awkward silence, though, if he was bothered by it, Nezu didn’t let it show; the mammal practically skipping by the giant’s side as he hummed to himself. It was only as the three reached the UA barrier, and Aizawa moved to scan his lanyard to keep the gate open, did the silence get broken.

“Well then, Enstatite, it’s been nice speaking with you; normally I’d say that I wish you luck on getting into UA, but, well, you already know that you’ll be attending when the time comes- so for now, I’ll just say goodbye, and ask that you enjoy your time off!” Nezu chirped; stopping just shy of the barrier. The man continued to lazily stomp his way off of the school’s grounds; turning as he ducked and passed the barrier to look back at his two escorts. With an amused huff, he gave the principal a lopsided grin.

“Thanks, half-pint; you to!”

“And try and get used to being un-fused; you may be guaranteed a spot in my class, but you’re not getting special treatment; the two of you step out of line, or fuse when you’re not allowed, and you’re gone, got it?” Aizawa added, looking up from the barrier terminal to stare at the man. In an instant, the air of calm that Enstatite had been exuding stopped, and with his attention no longer on the principal, the man glared back at the teacher. Just as he opened his mouth to snap at him, Aizawa pulled his lanyard away from the terminal, and the barrier slammed back into place; cutting off the fusion and causing him to jump back with a startled yell.

His two right hands clenched tight into fists, Enstatite drew back to punch at the metal, however before it made contact he froze; the voice of the principal being heard clearly from the other side.

“I wouldn’t punch it if I were you; it’ll set off UA’s defence system and that automatically puts out a call to nearby hero agencies!” His arms shaking with rage, and with an annoyed growl, Enstatite pulled back; letting his arms drop to his side with a tired sigh. After finishing the written exam, demolishing the practical exam, running home, running _back_ to UA, and dragging himself through what was basically _two more_ written exams, the man was tired; too tired to bother arguing.

With another groan, the fusion finally turned away from the gate and began his long trek home.

Though the streets directly adjacent to UA were mostly empty, the closer to the town centre he got, the more packed they became. It was well past noon by this point, and yet still there were families and friends out and about, more than likely celebrating how well they or their kids did in the entrance exam. The noise was a pain in the ass to deal with, and every time one of the younger kids would scream in entertainment, Enstatite would cringe away from their direction, but for the life of him he just couldn’t bring himself to hate it.

There was a fair going on a little further ahead; the lights of the ferris wheel spinning through the night sky serving as its main attraction, and if the cotton candy and prize toys of kids walking past him as he got closer was anything to go off of, there were a ton of other games there as well. He also passed a cinema on his way home; business was definitely going well for them tonight; there was a queue wrapping around a part of the street to get in. Maybe Midoriya alone would have loved to partake in all of it; to lose himself in the lights and colours- hell under the right circumstances, maybe Bakugou would as well, but Enstatite didn’t.

Enstatite just wanted to spend a quiet night in with his family.

It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy those things, per say, but he often found they weren’t worth the hassle; the stares of random people as he made his way home being a reminder of that. Mutation quirks were commonplace in society, and Enstatite was thankful he could live in a time where people with mutant based quirks could live _without_ extreme prejudice- but that didn’t mean people didn’t still _stare._ He supposed he should be thankful that, if things got too bad, unlike people with _actual_ mutation quirks, he could just… not look like he does, but it still got to him.

He didn’t even look that much different from a normal person; not like some of the mutation quirks he’s seen; the hero ‘Enigma’ coming to mind, but people still stared; people still shuffled away from him when there was space to do so; people still called the police on him whenever he’d yell ‘because they thought you were a villain.’ Coming to the other side of the town, having passed directly through the centre, Enstatite could see his neighbourhood in the distance. With a tense smile plastered on his face, the man tried to push those thoughts and feelings away; after all, logically speaking, it wasn’t logical to dwell on them

Running his top set of hands back through his overly long hair; a nervous tick of his, while his bottom set still sat comfortably in his pockets, the man debated pulling it all up into a bun so that it wouldn’t fall into his food when he finally sat down to eat- and as he crossed the street and finally entered his neighbourhood, he set to it. It wasn’t often he actually did anything with his hair, since, it was just easier to leave it down, but tonight was special. His hair was also a fusion of his two halves; just like Midoriya’s skin and patches of his own, his hair was green, however where the smaller boy’s was curly, Enstatite’s was sharp, jagged, and wild, just like Bakugou’s. In terms of length, it fell to just below his second set of arms.

Being back in his own neighbourhood definitely served to make the man feel better, as he knew he didn’t have to constantly have a leash of his behaviour; everybody already knew who he was, or at least, they knew he wasn’t a villain. There were very few people who actually knew he was a fusion; it’s why he was so pissed at Aizawa for revealing him in front of all the other hero course applicants. The less people that knew, the better; it’s the same reason he transferred out of Aldera after the move… but, it was best if he didn’t think about that place; if his thoughts lingered there for too long, it wouldn’t be good.

Aldera had been… _horrible_ ; if it wasn’t for his parents convincing Midoriya and Bakugou to switch schools… he might not have been around for this long. But again, he needed to stop thinking about Aldera; that place was just a distant memory; his only concern should be making sure no one from his ‘new’ school would see him un-fused when he got to UA. He knew Kirishima and Mina had been planning on applying, but whether they actually got in was up in the air. The three of them were friends, or at least, they’d known each other; he’d never really gotten close with either of them since… well, he was still dealing with baggage from Aldera… But if they got in, then things were going to be _very_ awkward. He was pretty sure Kirishima saw him as some sort of unstoppable beast, and if he was reading her right, he was pretty sure Mina had a thing for him… either that or she just liked his muscles, but yeah… if they figure out he’s a fusion things are gonna get real awkward real quick.

Finally arriving at his house, Enstatite took a moment to shake his head clear of any rogue thoughts, and gently pushed open the fence gate. The house itself was one of the biggest in the area, though, it still held proportionately the same amount of space as any other. It had been custom build to accommodate for his height, and he lived there with both of Bakugou’s parents, as well as Midoriya’s mother; the trio having accepted that their two sons had wanted to become one with relative ease, though, it took a while to get used to.

In the beginning it had been quite a big change to deal with; with both families having to quickly figure out how to proceed; if they were going to live together; if they were going to tie their finances together… but it all worked out in the end. Eventually it had been decided that the three parents would move in together, and while Masaru and Mitsuki continued on with their jobs, Inko would act as the ‘stay-at-home’ mum; keeping the house clean and tidy.

Moving his bottom right arm to grab at the door knob, the other three pressed themselves gently flat against the door itself. Resting his head against the wood, Enstatite shivered as loose strands of his bun brushed against his neck. After a few seconds of silence, the man finally turned the knob and pushed the door open; a proud smile spread across his face; his arms moving to rest against the door frame.

“Yo! I’m back… again… What’s for dinner?!” The overall layout of the house was also a fusion; the bottom floor being almost an exact, though larger, copy of the Midoriya’s old apartment- whilst the top was a mixture of the Bakugou’s old work studio, and bedroom layout; once again, enlarged.

“There y’are you brat; if you’d taken any longer we’d’ve started eating without ‘ya! Food’s starting to go cold as it is!” Mitsuki yelled, turning to look back at him from her position lounging on the couch. Rolling his eyes, Enstatite moved to fully enter the house; closing the door behind him. Sat on the other side of the couch; Mitsuki’s feet in her lap was Inko, who too had turned as he made himself known.

“Hey sweetie, ignore her; we’re still waiting on Masaru getting back; he burned the chicken at the last minute so he’s gone to buy some from KFC. The table’s already set, but the plates could probably do with re-warming; be a dear and put them in the microwave please?” Giving Inko a curt nod, Enstatite made his way into the open-plan room; turning to his right and entering the kitchen. Meanwhile, Mitsuki turned to Inko with a look of faux-offence.

“ _Masaru_ burned the chicken, now did he? I’m pretty sure that _you’re the one_ who just walked away from the oven…” Grinning back at the her, Inko raised her hands threateningly towards the woman’s feet.

“Nooooo, when I walked away, I _specifically asked him_ to keep an eye on the oven for me; apparently, he didn’t hear me!” Mitsuki’s eyes instantly honed in on Inko’s hands hovering dangerously close to her feet. Looking up at the woman with a glare, Mitsuki instantly tensed up.

“Inko… don’t you dare…” The moment the younger woman flashed Mitsuki a mischievous smirk she knew she was doomed. To the song of his two mother’s screams, Enstatite made use of his multiple arms to collect the plates from the table, before opening the microwave and sticking them in for a couple of minutes. With that task done, the man took a seat at the dinner table and pulled out his phone to entertain himself; he’d go to watch TV, but he knew that if he went anywhere near those two, they’d try and drag him into it.

It was times like these that made him wish he had made better friends with people; hanging out with his parents all break was going to get old real quick, and there was only so much hero analysis and training that one man could do before he got bored. Opening up HeroTube, Midoriya hit play on one of the random recommended videos. Though they weren’t exactly friends like he’d said, he _did_ have Mina and Kirishima’s numbers; the two of them didn’t really talk much either, but hey, the option was there he supposed.

With a sigh, Enstatite allowed himself to just zone out at his phone and finally relax.

Two-and-a-half videos later, the sound of the front door opening caught the fusion’s attention, and looking up from his phone revealed Masaru awkwardly shuffling his way through the front door with both hands full of KFC. Locking his phone and letting it fall back onto the table, Enstatite stood; moving his top arms from behind his head before making his way over to the man to help lighten his load.

“Thanks son; are the plates in the microwave?”

“Yeah, they should be the perfect temperature now-“ With a huff, Enstatite dumped his share of the meal on the kitchen counter, and Masaru placed his half in a more orderly fashion next to it. Glancing over his shoulder at his mothers’, the man noticed that they’d calmed considerably; going back to watching the tv; some form of talk show on. Neither had acknowledged that Masaru had come back, and so after a moment of consideration, Enstatite flexed his bottom right hand; igniting his sweat and letting forth a small, green explosion.

The noise and the subsequent shaking caused the pair to jump up from the settee with a start; both letting out startled screams. Turning with a red face to glare at him was Mitsuki, and as the man allowed himself to laugh openly at their misfortune, Masaru managed to hold back his own laughter. Inko turned soon after with a disapproving glare of her own, though, it was clear she was more embarrassed that Mitsuki.

“Bakudoriya Enstatite! Do that again and I will kill you mister! Do you understand!” Enstatite’s laughter turned into a snort as he stood to his full height; bringing all four arms back into a fighting stance and a feral grin sprouting on his face.

“Yeah? Like you could, ya’ old hag!”

“Ladies, ladies; you’re both pretty; haven’t you had enough fighting for one day? Masaru chuckled, slapping Enstatite on the back as he made his way over to the table; plates in hand.

“Oh! Honey, you’re back!” Mitsuki cheered, eyes widening as she noticed her husband fluttering about the table. Rolling his eyes, Enstatite relaxed his posture; going to take back his seat at the table as Mitsuki vaulted over the back of the settee to give Masaru a hug; Inko just walking around the side like a normal person, and beginning to unpack the food.

It took around five or so minutes for all of the food to be laid out; the stuff that had been cooked that, unlike the chicken, _hadn’t_ been burned being pulled out of the oven and in some cases the fridge. After that, the three parents finally sat down at the table- and all present just took a moment to breath, before tucking in.

Most of the chicken had been placed down on the table closer to Enstatite, partially because it was his favourite food, though mainly because it was the best food to fill the giant up; for as much as he didn't want to be, the fusion was still two people, and needed to eat as such.

“So, now that we’re all back together, you want to finish recounting the exam kiddo?” Tearing the chicken away from the drumstick, the fusion looked up at Masaru with an eyebrow raised, and after a few moments of awkward eye contact, the fusion’s eyes blew wide open as he realised what the man was talking about. Quickly swallowing down his food, Enstatite sat upright in his chair and began to lean on the table ever-so-slightly.

“Right, yeah! So, where was I?”

“I think you were talking about the stuck-up robot kid?” Mitsuki commented, taking another bite of her food.

“Oh! Yeah, right, so, the kid runs straight past me, right? Now, bare in mind that this fucker-“

“Language!” Inko chided, pointing her fork across the table at him. Rolling his eyes, Enstatite sighed.

“Okay, so bare in mind that _that_ fucker had been on my case since I’d shown up, right? Accusing me of being a villain; calling me out in front of everyone because I was mumbling my strategy out loud; stealing as many of my points that he could? Well, like I said, he just ran straight past me like everyone else had; no one stopped to see if I’d been injured, despite the fact that I’d done so for most of them _multiple_ times-“ The man paused for a moment to gather his breath back; the anger he had been experiencing in that moment flooding back into his system as if it belonged there.

“Part of me almost sacrificed my spot at the school just to blow him to kingdom come! But, I didn’t, before you yell at me. Anyway, what really got on my nerves was that I wasn’t the only person they were all leaving behind; and unlike me, this person couldn’t get back up and keep going…” Though they were hungry, the eating had slowed to a halt as all three of the parent’s became re-invested in the fusion's recounting.

“There was this girl; she was stuck under some rubble that’d come loose when the zero-pointer had been released. I don’t know if the other applicants were just being selfish, or if they couldn’t tell, but both her legs had been completely shattered when she’d been pinned. Even if she could have gotten out from under all that debris, she’d have had to drag herself all the way out of the robot’s path. That’s where I stepped in.”

“Oh my God, that’s… surely UA wouldn’t have let some get that badly hurt in their exam, right?” Inko asked; genuinely surprised. With a sigh, Enstatite shook his head.

“UA can get away with practically anything they want, since they’ve got Recovery Girl on the payroll; turns out the rumours from a few years ago were false; she didn’t retire, she just took up the role of a nurse at that school; kept a low profile ever since,”

“Anyway, as I was saying, when I noticed that she was gonna be crushed I got up and ran back to get her out of there. After clearing most of the rubble away I picked her up to try and run, but by this point the damn clanker was too close, so, remembering that I have four arms… I did something _very_ stupid…”

“Well considering that half a’ ya’s Katsuki, I’m not surprised,” Mitsuki grinned, smugly taking a bite of her own food as Masaru rolled his eyes.

“Oi! Just because it’s true doesn’t mean ya’ should say it!” Inko snorted into her water.

“So, Enstatite, what stupid thing did you do?” Masaru asked, rather invested in the story.

“Right, so, basically, I shifted the girl into my top half, and using my bottom half I just straight up launched myself into the fucking air. I would have passed her off to someone else before that but, like I said, everyone had fucked off to somewhere else. Once I reached the pique of my explosion, I was well above the things head, and as I fell I just rapid-fire detonated my hands into its shell. By the time I’d hit the ground, I’d all but torn the fucker apart!” Enstatite grinned; delighting in the memory. In all the time they’d been together, he didn’t think he’d ever jumped that high before; he’d even partially cracked the ground upon landing. Then again, he did push himself pretty far.

“When I landed… I almost split… that’s how much energy I’d used. Granted, the erasure fucker made me split anyway, but… at least _that_ was near the end when most of the people had already left. I can’t imagine what I’d’ve done if it happened in front of everyone.”

“Kid,” Masaru sighed, reaching to his right to place a hand on the fusion’s large bicep. “We’ve told you before; we don’t care if you’re fused or not; no one is going to think either of you are weak for having flaws; everyone has them! I mean… look at your mother! Er… Katsuki’s mother!”

“HEY!” Enstatite couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Mitsuki dive at her husband from her prone position; body slamming into the table as she tried to reach over and throttle the man.

“Yeah, thanks dad… But they just don’t see it that way…” The fusion sighed, gesturing to himself.

“Well, that’s why we keep telling you; so you don’t forget!” Inko smiled; unphased by the raging woman to her side. Giving her a light nod, Enstatite took another bite of his chicken; effectively ending that branch of the conversation.

“Anyway, what happened to the girl? Did she end up okay?” Masaru questioned.

“Oh, yeah she got help from Recovery Girl as soon as the exam ended. Turns out the zero pointer acts as, like, a level boss; it’s designed to flatten the city, and when it’s finished, the exam ends. Since I destroyed it in one attack, they just ended the exam and sent RG in to take care of the injured. I stuck around for a while to make sure she was okay… and… well that’s why I got forced to un-fuse; apparently I was being ‘disruptive’, and Aizawa’s main way of getting people to shut it is to flash his quirk at them.”

“Aizawa?” Mitsuki, no longer trying to maul her husband like a rabid dog, prompted.

“Erasure-bitch,”

“Ah, okay, gotcha,”

“So,” Inko began, taking a quick drink of water. “Did you at least find out if you got in, since you had to go all the way back anyway?”

All four of Enstatite’s eyes widened as he looked over to the woman, and in that moment, he had completely forgotten that he hadn’t even told them if he’d gotten in or not. Originally, they were all sure he had passed and gotten in, since he had come in first; it was kind of a given, but after the second meeting, they were still unsure.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I still got in; even if I hadn’t redone the written test twice, I think they’d’ve still let me in if I’m being honest. It’s just one of those things; I not only got the most combat points, but I got the most rescue point _and_ I broke a school record. Maybe if I’d just gotten the most combat points they’d’ve let me go, but… Yeah! I’m still not sure how they’re gonna sort the points thing though; if they’re gonna just give them all to Enstatite, or if they’re gonna split them between the nerd and the asshole evenly…” A raised eyebrow from Inko got the fusion stuttering again.

“I… uh… Izuku and Katsuki…”

With a curt nod from the woman, Enstatite let go a breath he hadn’t even realised he was holding, and collapsed back into his chair.

“Either way, you don’t need to worry yourself with all a’ that; now dig in, or your food’ll go cold!” Mitsuki chided, gesturing to his plate with a chicken drumstick. With a smile, the fusion gladly did ask asked; giving up the table spotlight and digging into his own food, whilst his three parents began to talk about an assortment of other random things.

Enstatite smiled. His life was finally looking up.


	3. Acid and Caramel, the prequel

_’90… 91… 92… 93… 94… 95… 96… 97… 98… 99…100’_

His body shaking; sweat rolling down his face and arms, Enstatite rolled over onto his back and began to gasp for air. The weights he had been clutching tight in his bottom two hands fell to the ground with a dull thud, and his top two flopped out; weak, and dead. Thankfully, that was his last set- and once he had recovered, he’d have the rest of the day to laze away- but until then, the fusion resigned himself to just lay back and look at the clouds.

It was one of the harder workouts he’d put himself through, but it was worth it to feel the satisfaction at the end. He’d just finished the four-arm variant of press-ups; put simply, one set of arms has to hold out a set of weights on either side of your body, whilst the other set does the actual press-up. You have to keep your arms locked out straight, and if the weights touch the ground as you go down, you have to start again. Now, of course, being the absolute mad-lad that he was, Enstatite had done twice as many as the plan stated he was supposed to, whilst also doing them one-handed, resulting in him doing one hundred per arm- but, in his defence, that was only because that’s what it took for him to actually feel the results of exercising.

The sun baring down on him from overhead sure as hell didn’t help things though; for what to most would be a nice, warm day, was to someone exercising the equivalent of doing so inside of a sauna. Thankfully his mums had made sure he bring several bottles of water with him, which sat alongside several ice-packs in his rucksack near the entrance to the beach.

Takoba Municipal Beach, to be exact.

Yes, for as much as he hated being back in his home prefecture the man couldn’t think of a better place to come to do his training. Though, he was rather surprised when he had first shown up, given that in all the time he had been around, he had not once seen the beach as spotless as it was right now. In fact, for as long as he had known of the beach it had been called the ‘Dagobah Municipal Dump’ for all the trash that had accumulated there.

Now, Enstatite wasn’t going to complain that someone had finally done something to restore the place to its former glory; whoever had done it was a true hero for helping the community like that, but it did sadden him to lose his best quirk-training spot. Back when there were literal mountains of trash piled all the way along the shore the fusion could get away with using his quirk however he pleased; after all, it’s not like anyone could see him; and if they did somehow see him or if they heard him, and came to investigate, then he had an endless number of hiding spots- but now all he could really do was a regular workout.

Well, ‘regular’ was obviously subjective.

With a sigh, Enstatite rolled himself over once more onto his stomach and began to half drag and half crawl his way back up the beach to his bag. For once, he was actually glad he was wearing black on such a hot day; if he was in any other colour the sweat stains would be grossly apparent, and the man could only be thankful that unlike most his sweat smelled like caramel. Reaching his bag, Enstatite awkwardly shuffled himself to sit against the wall that separated the pavement from the beach, before roughly yanking it onto his lap.

Wiping down his top most hands of sweat and sand on his tank top, the fusion made quick work of tearing the bag open and grabbing one of the water bottles. It was just a standard two litre plastic one, but it was cheaper than buying an _actual_ sports bottle for someone of his size. Un-screwing the lid he used both hands to chug down the water; not even stopping for air. The ice had definitely done its job of keeping the water cool; the temperature difference almost making the him cry with how refreshing it was, but as soon as the bliss arrived, it was gone; and after a rough brush of his arm against his mouth, so was the last of the water.

From _that_ bottle at least.

Before he could reach in to grab the second, the bag began to vibrate, courtesy of his phone, and after rolling his eyes and putting the empty bottle back in the bag, he pulled said phone out. The screen turned off just as he turned it to face him, though Enstatite had already caught a glimpse what was on it. He’d gotten another message from Mina, which was strange considering that they’d already finished organising their meet-up, but he found that he didn’t much mind.

He had been right in assuming that spending the time before going to UA with no one but his parents was going to get old quick, and it had only taken a few weeks before he had finally caved and sent her a message. He’d done the same with Kirishima, but, for some reason, he had never responded; always leaving him on read. He’d even asked if he’d wanted to join their little meet-up, but again received no response.

Enstatite felt slighted, if he were being honest.

Unlocking his phone and then going into his messages Enstatite was assaulted with this morning’s conversation with the girl. Looking down at the latest message, Enstatite shifted into a more comfortable position; his back going numb against the brick, and wiped off his bottom set of hands once again on his top, before reaching for his second water bottle.

> _‘Hey, I know we said we’d be meeting at around 1 but my mum decided to drop me off early. I’m fine with waiting, but if you’re not busy do you mind showing up early?’_

Shaking his hair out of his eyes, Enstatite moved his top arms out of the way to bring his lower arms up to chug down the second bottle. Wiping the spill-over from his mouth the fusion was quick to bring his phone back in front of him and send out a reply.

> _'I mean I literally just finished working out; I can get the train straight there from here, but unless you want me to show up sweaty and in my workout clothes you’ll have to wait’_

Both empty bottles put back into the bag neatly, Enstatite then pulled out the hoodie he’d brought with him. It was a dark orange, like most of his clothes, and the lining was black, so it matched his joggers. His back and legs still aching, the man pushed himself off of the ground; looking around for a moment before shrugging the hoodie on, and slinging the bag over his shoulder, though, not before zipping it back up.

> _‘You work out in sweatpants and a tank top, right?”_
> 
> _‘…Yes… How exactly do you know that..?’_
> 
> _‘And your sweat smells like caramel?’_
> 
> _‘Again, yes, but… How do you know that?!’_
> 
> _‘Feel free to come straight here~’_

With all four eyes narrowed at his phone; top left arm keeping his bag on his shoulder whilst his lower two sat comfortably in his pockets, Enstatite paused mid-step on the stairs that led up to the pavement. With a sigh bordering on growl, the fusion rolled his eyes.

> _‘Jesus Christ, Pinky, if I’d known ya’ were gonna be this thirsty I’d’ve saved ya’ some of my water…’_

Giving a satisfied huff, Enstatite put his phone in his hoodie pocket and resumed his trek up the stairs. Stepping out onto the pavement, two cyclists passed by him on the road, though thankfully neither paid him any mind. They were the first people he’d seen down this area so far; he’d come by relatively early, just so he could avoid anyone recognising him; he’d gotten the timing down to a science at this point.

The walk from the beach to the train station took longer than the man would have liked; early morning traffic and bustling office workers doing a good job at crowding the streets, but thankfully he was able to make his way there with minimal effort. Actually getting _onto_ the train though; now _that_ took a little more effort; between everybody pushing to get on and everybody pushing to get off, Enstatite had felt it easier to just wait until the platform was clear of anyone else. A plan that, whilst logical, almost resulted in the train just leaving without him; forcing him to painfully and comedically pull himself through the doors as they began to close.

Thankfully, once inside, he didn’t have to be hunched over to fit, though, the actual doorways inside the train that separated the door section from the seating section were rather tight to squeeze through. Most people were already looking at him as he stalked in to sit down, having seen his fight against the doors through the windows. Some were laughing, though not maliciously, and others just looked nervous.

Not wanting to disturb the passengers any more than he already had, he was quick to take his seat practically next to the train doors. If there were any, he would have taken a seat in the actual door section of the train, but the only things allowed in there during transport were bikes and scooters and other things of the sort. It was a shame, really; the bike racks looked pretty comfy; he could probably lay down in them if he wanted.

It didn’t take long after getting comfy for Enstatite to pull out his phone once again, though, it was mainly to help ignore the looks people kept shooting him. Again, after his fight against the door, he supposed they deserved to be a little weary, right? Still; staring was staring; he’d had enough of that to fill several lifetimes.

It was around twenty or so minutes into said ride that his phone vibrated in his hand. Tearing his attention from the random article he’d been skimming through,and seeing the chat bubble pop back up, Enstatite tapped it to open the latest message.

> _‘Sooooo, was that a yes on coming early or no..?’_

Ah. Shit. He’d forgotten to actually give Mina an answer.

> _‘Yes, Pinky, I’m coming down early; I’m almost there; chill, would ya?’_
> 
> _‘hehehehe, sorry it’s just this is the first time we’ve really hung out; I wanna make a good first impression; make myself look cool, y’know?’_

Enstatite had to stop himself from snorting out loud.

> _‘Mina the first time we met was when I had to carry you to the nurse covered in dirt, leaves and tears because you tried to do some stupid skateboard trick whilst using your acid instead of an actual board; you somehow ended up on the school roof and then you fell through several trees; hit a bee hive, and then landed directly on top of me and when you came back to class you were wearing Hello Kitty plasters; your skin had practically turned red, and you were pouting like a 3 year old. I will never think you’re cool.’_
> 
> _‘… don’t remind meeeeee; I said I was sorry! ><’_

Shaking his head in amusement, Enstatite glanced out of the window behind him at the passing city. They’d gone by several stops already; this up and coming one was his. Pulling himself out of his seat, and using his three free hands to keep him stabilised whilst he stood, the man squeezed his way back towards the train doors. A few others from the train stood as well to do the same; forming a line behind him as the train began to slow down.

> _‘Hey, my train’s pulling in now where are we meeting?’_

Gliding to a full stop, the train’s doors opened and Enstatite pushed himself out and onto the platform. The people behind him were polite, though, since they were probably on their way to work, did give a few quiet grumbles at how slow he was; hurrying past him with briefcases clutched tight to their chests. Exasperated, Enstatite shook his head and began to make his way towards the centre of the platform; wanting to move out of the way of everyone else.

The platform itself was one of the smaller ones on the line; having a more open plan that allowed you to practically walk straight into town after coming off of the train. In vie of roofs, instead there were disjointed canopies that acted both to keep any unwanted rain away and provide shade, but also as lights during the night. The overall shape looked more like a raised rectangle, and on either on the shorter sides were stairs that connected to the pavement.

On the opposite side of the platform to the one his train arrived on was the outgoing train, and by said train, was an excitable, familiar pink girl. She was wearing workout clothes of her own, which confused the man, but all things considered he wasn’t going to judge; this was just a casual hang-out after all, and, well, workout clothes were _really_ comfy.

“Yo! E-Tite! Whassup home dawg!” Her yell attracted the attention of most around her as she ran towards Enstatite; hand raised and waving, and in response the man felt the overwhelming urge to facepalm- however instead, he merely offered wry smile.

“Please never say that again…”

“What part? The ‘whassup home dawg’, or the ‘E-Tite’?” Coming to a stop upon reaching him, Mina begun to animatedly dance around him; large grin sported on her face.

“…Yes,” Coming to a stop directly in front of him, Mina put on a fake pout; aggressively poking at his stomach before putting her hands on her hips.

“Meenie!”

Rolling his eyes and letting out a huff caused Mina to break ‘character’ and give him a friendly punch on his lower shoulder; giggling to herself. He supposed he knew where they were meeting up now.

“Anyway, what’re you even doing here Pinky? Didn’t you say that you got dropped off early? What’re you doing at the train station?”

“I… came to wait for you? What… what else would I be doing here?” Though unnoticeable, Enstatite’s eyes widened in surprise, and his face was quick to flush in embarrassment. That… yeah, that made sense; he just… was that what friends did? He had no frame of reference. This was off to a great start, he could tell.

“Uh… yeah… that, that makes sense, I guess. Sorry. Anyway, now that we’re here, what do you want to do first? I know we didn’t exactly plan anything,” The fusion jabbered; free-hands emoting with every word as he finally put his phone back into his pocket, and the two began to walk away from the station. The train he had rode in on had long since left, and the train going back the way he came was in the final stages of people boarding.

“Well, there’s an arcade nearby; there’s a cinema a bit further out, we could go grab some food, or- and I’m _totally_ not hyping this last idea up because it sounds super awesome and cool and I _really_ want to do it… but there’s a quirk-sparing gym nearby, and I figure that _maybe_ we could go a few rounds..?”

Ah. So _that’s_ why she came dressed in workout clothes.

“Mina-“

“-Before you say it, I know you’ve just finished working out so you’re probably tired, but we don’t have to do it first! We can totally just do the other ideas first!” The girl rushed out, turning slightly into him with placating hands.

“You know Pinky, sometimes I think you only talk to me because you want to fight me…” Enstatite commented, looking away with a faux-pout of his own. It didn’t quite have the same effect as when she did it, but it made Mina giggle none the less.

“Whaaaatttt? Pfttt, noooooo; it’s also because you’re suuuuper hot and have huuuge muscles!” The girl teased; falling lax into the man’s side and wrapping her arms tight around his own bottom right. Both stopped walking, and whilst Mina looked to at Enstatite, he in turn looked down at her; both their faces blank. For a few seconds neither said anything, but it didn’t take long for both to break out in gut busting laughter; separating as they began to walk once more.

“Fine, we can go there later; just gimme some time to recover,” Enstatite sighed, looking away slightly; his face once again flushed. He knew Mina was a very… touchy-feely type of person but… this was a lot more physical contact that he was used to from anybody… well, excluding his parents, and… _himself?_ He supposed.

Despite her seeming rush for the two of them to go to the quirk gym, Mina was actually rather content with just ‘wasting’ time, as the man would come to find. The two spent several hours just walking around; doing some window shopping, and chatting between themselves. It was actually nice; it definitely made Enstatite regret being so closed off for most of the time he’d known her, even if conversation was awkward at times. After all, no amount of battle prowess and quirk analysis could make up for the fact that both halves of Enstatite were God awful interacting with people in a way that would be considered ‘normal’.

Still, every slip-up Mina took with stride.

“So, how’d you think you did in the entrance exam?” Letting his straw fall from his lips, Enstatite looked down at the girl like a deer in headlights. The two of them were sat outside of a local restaurant; ‘The Fortress of Solitude’, the old, wooden sign supplied. Somehow Mina had managed to convince him to buy one of those fancy-pants coffees; straw and all, and the two of them had been sat sipping their drinks like high-class snobs, amidst occasional stints of conversation; exchanging questions and answers in an effort to get to know each other better.

But that question? That one he could _not_ answer; at least, not truthfully. You see, for as much as he likes to break the rules; as much as he likes to be a ‘#anarchist’ and do the opposite of what people tell him, just because they tried to tell him what to do… he was not willing to go this far. UA’s policy on leaking the student rankings before official release was _very_ strict- and whilst one could argue that he was being paranoid; that he could trust Mina to not say anything…

Nezu was fucking terrifying, and he was not willing to challenge him on this.

Additionally… wait… shit he’s spent too long thinking about this for any lie he tells to seem genuine… fuck it.

“Uhhhh, I think… I think I did pretty good… heheheheh… There’s, uh, no way to know for certain if I got in or not yet though! Our letters should be coming by the end of the week!” Taking a nervous sip of his coffee; his eyes shifting eagerly away from Mina’s own, Enstatite knew he was fucked.

“You already know that you got in, don’t you…” The girl deadpanned, taking a sip of her own coffee.

Fuck.

“…So anyway, how do you think _you_ did?” Enstatite questioned, not even bothering to hide his attempt at redirection. With a sigh of her own and a roll of her eyes Mina felt her own arms wrap around her; retreating into herself in a way that the man hadn’t seen before.

“I… well, I don’t think I did that great. I did my best but… It just didn’t feel like enough, y’know? I didn’t get that many points, and it took me way too much effort to get my acid to the lethality I needed it to be at because I was nervous… I just… I feel like I messed everything up,” Enstatite stared her down with concern in all four of his eyes, however before he could say anything to comfort her, she was quick to look back at him, and with an obviously fake cheer in her voice, continue speaking.

“Sorry, about that… I know we’re still… well, I’m not sure what stage of friendship we’re in but I know it’s too early to be sharing heavy stuff like that. Just… let’s move on, yeah?” There was a small flicker underneath Enstatite’s skin. It was only there for the briefest of moments, and were it not the sign of something that the man needed to be constantly aware of, his body would have surely not even registered the feeling. But the fact of the matter was that it was something that he needed to be constantly aware of, and it was something that his body noticed.

It had been so long since he had last felt it, but that small flicker; the vibration it sent through his bones, meant that for the briefest of seconds his fusion had become unstable. Neither party could come to a decision that pleased the other, and rather than back down or compromise, for that one split second, Midoriya and Bakugou fought for control over the fusion’s actions and risked un-fusing.

But, with the feeling of a heart attack on the horizon, both parties had re-stabilized, and Enstatite knew what his next move was to be.

“Hey, Pinky… or, uh, Mina. Look, take it from me when I say that ‘ya probably did fine, yeah? Out of everyone I know which, admittedly, is a pretty small list, I think you have one of the best chances of getting into UA. After all, there’s a reason you were practically queen of the school…” Her façade was quick to fall away at his words; once again revealing the nervous girl underneath, though this time, she was looking up at him with what he could only really describe as a hopeful face.

“People put you at the top of the social hierarchy because you’re smart, and you’re powerful- but as well as that, you’ve got the determination to succeed. You’re a leader, even if you don’t recognise it. You’re like me… just, not as awesome!” He wouldn’t have said that last part if it wasn’t for the fact that all of the mushy crap was making him want to detonate his palms, but just like every other obnoxious thing he’d said, she’d brushed it off.

It was Mina’s turn to flush with embarrassment, and if he were being honest, Enstatite couldn’t help but feel a smugness at finally getting his own back.

“I… Uh, thanks, E…” The girl stammered, quickly launching to grab at her coffee to busy her mouth so she wouldn’t say something stupid. The half-awkward silence that followed their exchange almost convinced Enstatite that he probably should have stayed quiet, but at the same time, it wasn’t exactly like he had said anything _wrong_.

It was only as the two of them were close to finishing their drinks that either bothered to speak up again.

“So, I know this is probably a random question but… have you… have you heard anything from Kirishima recently?” Enstatite questioned, leaning back in the restaurant chair as much as its weight capacity allowed.

“Huh? Kirishima?”

“Yeah, y’know, Kirishima Eijirou?” The man clarified.

“Oh, yeah, I know who he is; it’s sorta the same situation with him as I had with you; we know _of_ each other, but we don’t really talk. Why?” Rubbing at the back of his neck whilst fishing his phone back out of his pocket, Enstatite gave a hum of acknowledgement.

“Well, I… I don’t want to say he’s doing it on purpose, but… he keeps… _ghosting_ me. From the same day I first messaged _you_ to now, every message I’ve sent the guy he just opens and doesn’t reply. Like, I knew we weren’t exactly _friends,_ but I know he _wanted_ to be. I guess I just wanted to know if he’d said anything to you or not…” Her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation; the girl was quick to slowly shake her head.

“Sorry dude, but the last time we really spoke to each other was just before the exam; I can’t really help you here.” Staring down at his phone with his and Kirishima’s chat log on the screen, the man was quick to lock his phone and place it down on the table.

“You… You don’t think he did, like, _bad_ bad in the test, right? And he’s sulking or something?”

“I have _no_ idea; we were in separate battle centres, I got stuck in ‘F’ and he got put in ‘D’. I… I hope he got in, though. I know for a fact he deserves to.” Kirishima had been in battle centre ‘D’? But, _he’d_ been in battle centre ‘D’ and he hadn’t seen hair nor tail of the boy throughout the whole exam. Not even at the end when he’d been forcibly-

Shit.

_Shit_.

**_Shit._ **

Had… Had Kirishima seen him be forcibly un-fused?

Mina looked up worryingly at Enstatite as the man’s breathing suddenly became heavy and his eyes fixed wide as he looked off into the distance. Putting her now empty cup back down onto the table she was quick to reach over said table to rest a hand on one of the man’s lower arms.

“Yo, E, snap out of it! You okay up there?” His head snapped to look down at the girl, and after a few moments, the man finally blinked, and began to focus on reigning his breathing back under control. Wordlessly, he nodded reassuringly at her, and though it was clear she was apprehensive, she let go of his arm and sunk back into her chair.

“Sorry, I just… It’s… it’s nothing. Anyway, I’m almost done; you wanna go back to looking around? Or, maybe you wanna finally go to that quirk gym?” At the mention of the gym, any and all reservations and concerns that she still held over his behaviour seemed to fly away with the wind; a giddy smile spreading across her face as she began to bounce in her chair.

“Yes! Finally! I- uh… I mean, uh, yes… please!” Giving her a fond smile of his own, Enstatite pushed himself up and out of his chair, and as he rose so did she.

“Alright, let’s get moving…”

The nagging fear that he’d been found out still festered at the back of his mind, but the fusion refused to let it ruin his day. All of that panic and hyperventilating could be saved for when he was at home, in the arms of his parents, where Midoriya could take majority control and flood the house with his tears.


	4. Acid and Caramel, the sequel

“Okay... I don’t think I thought this through very well...” Mina mumbled; eyes wide as she stared down Enstatite; his large form barrelling towards her at what might as well have been a thousand miles an hour- but that was ultimately asinine. The exact number didn’t matter; all that mattered was that he was moving far too quickly for someone of his size to be moving.

Diving to her right she was able to just miss being rammed off of her feet, at the expense of having to awkwardly roll though the sandy gravel that paved the area. Slinging her arms behind her as she seamlessly got to her feet, two streams of acid struck the man’s two lower arms, and in response he growled, though forcibly kept his teeth and jaw clenched shut and twisted into a grin. Quick to turn on her feet to stare him down once more, Mina shot him a much less pained grin of her own.

Whipping his arms down so fast you could hear them tear through the air, Mina’s acid was flung to the ground where it sizzled, leaving behind an obvious discoloured marking on his skin. If it wasn’t for the fact that Enstatite didn’t seem to care, Mina might have felt guilty about that. She had been so caught up in the moment that she’d forgotten to dilute the substance, a mistake she hadn’t actually made in quite some time.

Around them, onlookers cheered and banged against the metal of the cage as the fight finally began to kick off. You see the two of them had gathered a rather sizeable audience upon arrival, given that it was apparently pretty rare for those with mutation quirks to come to this particular gym, and upon overhearing that they were going to be fighting in the cage- a la Mina practically yelling the request as she animatedly burst through the front doors, a lot of those already in attendance had followed them as they were led outside.

You see the cage was apparently used for a more intense type fighting; one where there were less restrictions on how far you could go with your quirk, and whilst Enstatite had known Mina to come to this gym often, he _hadn’t_ known that she had also been hyping up her fight with him for a while, which was actually another reason for the crowd.

The cage itself was reminiscent of the old-style MMA cages, though, sized up quite considerably- and instead of being built on a solid foundation, it had been hammered roughly into the uneven ground. It was the centrepiece of the outdoors, with other equipment and training dummies being stationed around it.

Jumping forwards and kicking up a few loose stones as he went, Enstatite lashed out with both his left arms; turning in the air ever so slightly in the same direction, before letting go two earth shaking green blasts. Mina was just able to slip the attack, which was quick to super-heat the metal of the cage behind her, and with another role Mina found herself stumbling to her feet behind the man.

Before she could recover, Enstatite pivoted on his left side to bring both right elbows into her; his top her face, and his bottom her chest. The strike knocked the girl onto the ground before she could even register she’d been struck, and just a few seconds before Enstatite could make a finishing pounce, she threw herself into a sausage roll to get out of the way.

The dual dust-clouds kicking up from where she had collapsed told her she’d been right in moving, and as she threw herself back upright, she noticed the man knelt down in a dual palm-strike. He turned to face her, and acting with the sole goal of not letting him stand back up, she ran in to deliver a roundhouse kick to his face.

Using his top left arm he grabbed her leg before it could make contact; holding it out, before pulling so she was overextended. Giving the girl a smug smile, Mina couldn’t help but shoot the man a competitive glare of her own.

Using her caught leg as leverage she jumped into the air and twisted to try and deliver another roundhouse kick, but alas, her move was largely choreographed. Surprised but not unprepared, Enstatite used his top right to grab that leg as well, an action that resulted in Mina falling onto her back with a dull thud; winding herself, and also causing shots of pain to shoot up her spine as several large stones dug into her.

Finally standing, Enstatite grabbed each leg with their respective lower arms to increase his grip strength, and like a discus thrower, began to spin in the centre of the ring. The cheers of the crowd grew louder, and as her hair began to bat about her face, she pulled her head up to stare at her friend. The two made eye contact, and the girl prepared for what was about to happen. She had asked for it, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

With a triumphant yell, the fusion flung the girl back towards the cage wall that he had made hot with his explosions, and she collided with the metal so hard you could see it warp around her. Her shoulders felt like they were scolding for the briefest of seconds as she was pressed against the wall, before in a heap she collapsed to the ground; limbs splayed out.

The crowd roared once more at the action, and like the show boater he was, the man was quick to wave his hands at the crowd in a 'come on and try it' fashion. It was only after a few seconds, as the crowd began to die down in realisation, did Enstatite’s grin quickly slide off his face, and did he noticed that Mina had actually yet to keep moving.

His confident body posture and taunting hands were quick to drop, and after making eye contact with a few people in the crowd which by this point had begun muttering their worries amongst each other, Enstatite began to tentatively hurry over to his friend. Arriving by her side the hulking figure dropped to his knees, and with shaking hands he was quick to jostle her, as if she had just spontaneously fallen asleep.

Obviously this didn't work, as her face remained vacant and empty and her eyes closed, but Enstatite could at least find comfort in the fact that she was still breathing. A horrible feeling welling in his gut, the man was about to yell out for someone to get first aid, however as he looked back up at the crowd and opened his mouth he found himself bereft of air. Or rather, bereft of his soul. 

As if God himself had reached into the very fabric of his being and pummelled him black and blue with the force of infinite Ragnaroks directed upon a singular point, Enstatite's hands all came to gently cup at his groin. There were no amount of words in all the languages of the world and of the universe that had ever, will ever, and currently do exist to describe the amount of pain the fusion was experiencing- and if he were being honest, he was pretty sure the only reason he hadn't un-fused was because the amount of pain he was in had disabled the part of his brain that would make that happen.

His movements stiff and janky, Enstatite was able to force his head down just enough to see what had happened, and when he did, any and all regret he had felt at sending Mina flying into the cage might as well have never existed. With the smuggest of looks lazing on her face, and with fist extended towards his groin, Mina looked back up at him.

"It doesn't matter how big and strong they are, all men have the same weakness; they've all got a reset button. Don't feel too bad about losing, E, you were just at a disadvantage with one that big..." Without another word, though, cackling to herself, Mina rolled out of the way of Enstatite and stood back up to the cacophony of cheers from the crowd, who were all seemingly impressed by the underhanded move. 

Maybe in a regular sparing match it'd've been an illegal move, but in the cage? Nah.

As much as he wanted to get back up and release a megaton blast into the girl's face, Enstatite could barely even breathe, and so without much of a choice just flopped face-first into the gravel floor; kicking up a small dust-cloud as a result, and closing his eyes to let unconsciousness claim him. He'd kill her later, if he ever woke up.

* * *

With a tired groan, Enstatite turned in bed; pushing his head further into the pillow that was for some reason far more rough than his actual one, and for some reason didn't smell like him, before curling up into the fetus position below the duvet that was far too light to be an actual duvet. The pillow was nice and cold though, which was nice.

A hand thread itself into his mess of hair and began to gently play with it as one would a cats fur, and the man internally sighed. If it had just been the bed, and the pillow, and the blanket, then he could just ignore the fact that he had no idea where he was, but if there was somebody touching him as _well_ despite the fact that he was supposed to be unconscious, he couldn't exactly just ignore that.

With as much strength and speed as the fusion could muster after having just woken up, one of his arms shot out to ensnare the arm of whoever was messing with his hair, and upon finding its mark, he clenched down hard. His eyes darted open at the same time as the mystery person let out a startled and pained yelp, and Enstatite was quick to recoil when he realised that it was just Mina. The girl yanked her arm back to her the moment he let go, and with a hurt expression she began to tentatively rub at where he had squeezed.

"Ah- shit, Mina, I am _so_ sorry!" Quickly sitting up to attention in the bed, the man quickly turned to face her; legs swinging to dangle off of the side of the bed, and went to reach out to her again, only to flinch himself back before he could; afraid to touch her. After a few awkward seconds of her rubbing her arm, and Enstatite trying and failing to do anything helpful to apologise, the girl finally let out an exasperated sigh; shaking her head.

"It's fine, E... I guess I technically deserve it after what I did, but- to quote yourself, 'just chill, yeah?'," She commented, doing her best to restore some humour to the room, though failing and just coming across more awkward.

"Sorry, it's just it's not very often I pass out like that, so when I woke up without knowing where I was, still half asleep, and felt someone touching me I just sort of reacted," Enstatite coughed, finally looking around the room. They were still at the gym, but, no one else was there with them; all of the lights, bar the one above them, had been turned off; all of the equipment had been put away, and if he looked behind Mina, all of the windows had their shutters closed.

"What... where is everyone?" Flicking her eyes back to the man, Mina couldn't help but let out an amused scoff.

"They're gone, duh!" The deadpan glare she received for that one made her fully laugh.

"You were out for quite a while, dude; the gym's been closed for a good hour-and-a-half; most of the places around here are now. When you collapsed you were out like a light, E." The fusion in question paused at that, before all four of his hands moved to quickly pat himself down for his phone. Seeing the panic in his face as he realised that he didn't have it, Mina was quick to hold it out for him to take; having left it in his bag before the two had stepped into the ring.

Pressing the button on the side revealed the time to be around ten at night, though he didn't look at the exact time as his attention was drawn to the several missed call notifications that littered his screen.

"Oh, yeah, your moms and dad called a few times while you were out; it took me a while to remember your password, so they rang quite a few times before I could answer. They wanted to know where you were, and since I couldn't wake you up, and since I remembered you said two of your parents didn't like it when you got injured and also because I'm not that great at lying when put on the spot I just told them that your train had broken down at that you were at mine, taking a shower." The girl had to heave in a breath by the end of her sentence, and Enstatite just nodded rather dumbly in response; still slightly out of it from having just woken up.

"Wait, so... so if the gym is closed, then... _how exactly_ are we in here?" Enstatite stressed, finally sliding off of the side of the bed and onto his feet. Looking down at what he was wearing, he was thankful that he was still wearing his sweatpants, though, concerned about his lack of shirt. Looking to his side at Mina, it was clear that the girl was already prepared and on the same wavelength as him, as she was holding out his jacket at him.

"Before you say it, no, I didn't take your vest off to look at your muscles; as nice as they are, I know that you probably wouldn't have been okay with that. The owner had me take it off because it was filthy and he didn't want you to get his stuff dirty since he's a cheapskate. He wanted to take your sweats off too, but when no one volunteered to do it for him he got cold feet and backed out." With a grimace, he was quick to take his jacket from the girl and zip it closed around him. He didn't like being without clothes around other people; even his vest was better than nothing. It shouldn't be something he was ashamed of, but... past experiences have, no pun intended, coloured his opinions on his patchwork themed skin.

"As for how we're here, well, basically, since I'm in here at least three times a week the owner trusts me enough to just leave me alone after closing. As much of a creep as he can be, he's trusting to a fault; you become his friend? He'd kill for you; it's that type of deal. That and, because of how the doors work we can just walk out of here and they'll lock behind us; no key needed!" Nodding his head in understanding, Enstatite turned back to face the bed, or rather, the mattress and blankets resting on a few tables, and spent a few moments making it look presentable.

"So, what now? I guess I kind ruined our day out by sleeping through it; again, sorry... Oh, and... uh... sorry for throwing you into the cage; I know it probably hurt-"

"Y'know, I never expected you to be this apologetic..." Mina interrupted, her hands on her hips and that smug smile back on her face- which did its job of reminding him that he still needed to kill her for kicking him in the nuts earlier.

"I mean, with how you constantly acted at school and how you spoke over text, I always thought you were this gruff, grumpy tsundere, but... you're actually pretty soft, huh." Enstatite choked on his own spit, a third colour joining his skin as his face flushed in embarrassment, and as he pounded against his chest, he could hear Mina cackling at his reaction. A few minutes later, when the both of them had calmed down, the girl finally decided to give the man reprieve and answer his question.

"Well, since your folks think you're there already, you could... you could always come back to mine? We could have a sleepover or something; gossip about our classmates; paint each other's nails~" Mina sang, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Enstatite narrowed his eyes in contemplation; staring out of the shutters that covered the windows onto the moon-lit streets. It was quiet out, now that he listen; the type of quiet that, when in the middle of a large town, was very disturbing- and there were no more than two or three people he could see walking around at a time. It was pretty late already, and he didn't fancy riding the train back home, but at the same time he'd have to ride the train _anyway_ to get to Mina's, since he doubted that she was being picked back up at this point.

It really only came down to one thing.  
  
"How long is the train ride to yours?"

"Ten to fifteen minutes, why?" After a brief pause, Enstatite gave his answer.

"I'm down for a sleepover," With a grin the girl pumped her fist, and went scurrying off to the side to grab his bag. Rolling his neck to rid it of his stiffness, the man couldn't help but shiver as a breeze bypassed his jacket. Making his way over to the gym's door, Enstatite gratefully took his bag from Mina's offering hand and the two exited the building. There was a buzz coming from the door that he hadn't noticed the first time around; like an alert, that echoed down the relatively empty street and drew the attention of the few stragglers in the area.

As it turns out, the breeze he had experienced was only a fraction of how cold it had gotten, and without much thought he pulled his jacket tighter around himself.

"So, did ya hear about the rummer that All Might's gonna be teaching at UA this year? Mina voiced, seemingly unwilling to just let silence consume them. Looking down at her, Enstatite hummed in acknowledgement; nodding his head slowly.

"Yeah; it's crazy to think of the dude settling down; sure he may not be in his prime anymore, but c'mon! It's fuckin' All Might; he's meant to be a hero, not a _teacher;_ those skill are _not_ transferable. I mean, remember lecture-sensei?"

"Oh _God_... I'd almost forgotten about him! Why'd you have to bring him up!" Mina moaned, her whole body seemingly flopping towards the ground in faux agony. With a snort, Enstatite grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up-right as if she were a live noodle, and without missing a beat she just continued walking.

"I'm just glad he got put out commission before he did some _real_ damage to himself, y'know? Like, I suppose it wasn't _that_ bad of an idea, but he could have tested it on someone first, right? Like, off the field? 'Information Overload' is a good quirk for teaching, but not fighting villains!" Mina lamented, wrapping her arms around herself to try and minimise the cold.

From behind them, a figure backed up into the slip-street he had been walking out from; breath caught in his throat, as he watched them saunter off towards the train station; laughing and joking amongst themselves. He reached out an unsure hand, and opened his mouth weakly before letting both return to their previous states; dejected.

He couldn't face him. Not yet. Not when he still couldn't decide how he felt.

The figure's eyes flicked to the box of hair-dye clenched tight in his hand, before moving back to stare at Enstatite, and once again he couldn't help but wonder if he was making the right choice. He had already made one life altering decision because of the man... men? Boys..?

He'd already made once life altering decision because of his own self-doubts, so what was one more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mineta @ Midoriya when he discovers he can fuse with people:  
> "All I wanna do is watch you turn into a giant woman~"


	5. I hurt him but it was for character development, don't worry

"-your meta-ability does not define your worth as a hero, what _does_ define your worth as a hero, is how willing you are to sacrifice anything and everything you hold dear, in order to protect people that you don't even know. You could have the ability to level cities with nothing more than a sneeze, or you could have the ability to change the colour of your pinky finger. If the person with the super-powered sneeze isn't willing to sacrifice their life to protect others? Then to me, the person with the weird lookin' pinky finger is the better hero-" Kirishima let his fingers fall onto his laptop's space-bar, consequently pausing the HeroTube video that he'd been playing on loop for what must have been an _hour_ at this point.

Bringing his hands back to his face and letting them rest there, the teen let out an exhausted sigh. Normally Crimson Riot's words would be enough to pull him out of these moments of his, but not this time. This time, if he were being honest, they just made him feel worse; made him feel as if he had _betrayed_ the hero.

He had practically lived his whole life listening to the man's words of wisdom, and all it had taken was a day; a _single_ day, for him to throw them out the window. Deep down he had always doubted that his [Hardening] was a good quirk; that he could ever use it to become a hero, but in spite of that he had _always_ moved forwards; he had _always_ spent _day_ after _day_ , _night_ after _night_ pushing that quirk to its limits because even if it meant just getting the _chance_ to _try_ and become a hero it was worth it all.

It was worth being alone; it was worth being overlooked; it was worth losing sleep over, because it was all he'd ever wanted.

But it still wasn't enough.

_He_ still wasn't enough.

He had been so confident when they had met the first time; he had been so _self-assured_ in himself that he'd impressed All Might so much that, even after he had denied the offer to become the hero's successor, he had still chosen to train him; to mould him into a vessel that he could be proud of... What must the man think of him now? He'd practically begged the hero to let him become his successor; it was shameful; it was _ugly_... It was un-manly.

But he'd done it anyway... and the hero had agreed.

The thrum of energy under his skin made him sick; the well of power he could tap into whenever he so chose made his heart clench in agony because he _shouldn't have it_ ; because he _didn't deserve it_ ; because every time he thought of it, he couldn't help but remember that he would have never been enough on his own. In his moment of weakness; in his moment of desperation he had asked the devil for power, and the devil had given it to him.

All it had cost was his soul.

Not to say that All Might was the devil or anything, God no; that hadn't been his intention. But it certainly felt like it. Letting his hands drag down his face, Kirishima stood up in the relative dark and went over to his room window. It was midnight, and though he felt exhausted, he didn't feel tired enough to sleep. The stars out were beautiful; twinkling in the pitch black sky, and the sounds of distant traffic provided him with a calming white noise. The breeze was crisp, and cool, and though he had originally just stood to close both his window and curtains, the teen instead chose to just stay; looking out into the night.

His phone chimed, breaking the silence of the night, and looking over to where it lay, next to both his laptop and the holo-disk UA had sent, he could see it was a text notification from Enstatite. His gaze turned weary, and he waited for the blue glow to turn off before he looked back towards the window. The man... men? His... His _friend_ was probably just congratulating him for his placement in the exam; he'd come fourth after all.

A part of him wanted so badly to blame Enstatite for what he had done... but the teen knew that that wouldn't have been fair to either of them. Enstatite, for whatever his reasons were, had chosen to live as one person, and Kirishima needed to respect that... But it still hurt; it had still confirmed his own paranoid thoughts and made him do something that he wished he could just take back.

From the moment Enstatite had moved to Naboo Middle School, Kirishima had looked up to the guy. Sure, he was no Crimson Riot; sure he was no All Might, but he still represented an aspect of heroism that Kirishima aspired to achieve. Brains and Brawn; power, and the knowledge of how to use it. The man never lauded his strength over others, but he never held it back either. 

He'd been a role-model; someone that Kirishima would have been proud to become like; he was a testament to the idea that with enough hard-work; with enough _dedication_ , he could become that strong; he could become that smart. And after finding out that all of that strength and all of those smarts weren't natural; that they were the result of _two people_ fused into _one_... it had been like watching All Might deflate for the first time. Except _because_ he'd already seen All Might deflate; already seen this legendary figure reduced to an emaciated skeleton; already learned that All Might wasn't naturally that strong either, it had only stoked his paranoia further.

He should probably reply to the man, at least before the start of next week. After all, with Enstatite coming in first by that much of a landslide, he didn't want to start off his career at UA with the big guy thinking that he hated him. 

Running his fingers through his uncomfortably greasy hair; now a crimson red, just like he had always wanted, Kirishima finally closed the window; cutting out the sounds of traffic, before pulling his black-out curtains shut. Dodging the weight set that he'd left out in the middle of his carpet, Kirishima grabbed his phone and laptop from the table as a danced past before diving into his single-bed; bouncing a few times before twisting to lay on his back and letting his laptop rest on his bare legs.

He was just wearing an old t-shirt and his boxers to bed, since he wasn't really in the mood to hunt around inside the wash-basket for any actual pyjamas. Dragging his fingers across the touch-pad to light the screen back up, Kirishima was quick to escape out of Crimson Riot's enlarged face, and instead searched up and put on a lo-fi music live-stream, before finally moving his attention back to his phone.

Normally he'd put on an asmr video before sleep, since he found them to help calm him down, but on nights where he didn't have access to his headphones lo-fi music was a good substitute. Unlocking his phone, Kirishima quickly made his way into his messaging app, and read through the back-log of messages he'd received from the man. The most recent one; the one congratulating him on how well he did was the first one he had gotten from Enstatite since he'd seen him and Mina earlier in the week. His paranoia made him wonder if Mina had convinced the man to stop trying, but he was quick to shake the thought from his head.

Mina was a popular girl, yea, but she was also nice. She wasn't like the others. She wouldn't do that. Enstatite probably just gave up after Kirishima didn't respond for so long.

> 'Look, Rocky-Road; I get that you don't wanna talk or whatever, but, congrats on getting fourth anyway; you should be proud of yourself. UA's the top hero school in the country, yeah? Well done...'
> 
> 'Uh, yeah, thanks Enstatite... Um... Sorry for, like, ghosting you and stuff, but... I guess I just had to sort some stuff out, and, I guess, there's kinda something you should know...'

The reply came in almost instantly after he'd hit send, which, oh wow suddenly that was a _lot_ of pressure for Kirishima to deal with. The fact that it had come so fast meant that either the man had been waiting for him to reply, or was still on his phone when he had messaged him. He'd been hoping that maybe Enstatite would have gone to bed, so that he could just type out all of his thoughts for the other to read when they woke up. This was suddenly a lot more daunting.

> 'What?'

Being put on the spot normally wasn't Kirishima's idea of a fun time, but being put on the spot _over text_ just felt down right demeaning.

> 'I... Well... I kinda know... _what you are_...'

The next message came through a minute or so later, after several re-writes on Enstatite's part; his chat bubble popping up, only to go away a few seconds later as he deleted his message.

> 'Jesus Christ you make it sound like I'm a fucking _space alien_ or something! Yeah, so I'm a fusion, what's your fucking _problem_ man‽'

The amount of bite that Enstatite's response held had Kirishima physically recoiling from his phone, and yeah he kinda deserved that one- but he hadn't thought that Enstatite would have been that angry over being ignored; after all they weren't _friends_ friends!

They could have been, Kirishima mused; his body drooping, but he had definitely burned that bridge at this point; all he could really do now was damage control.

> 'No, dude; don't get me wrong I... I don't have a problem with you being a... a fusion, as you called it, I just... Look this is really embarrassing but it just took me a while to get over at first, okay? It wasn't because I had a problem with you being two people in one it was just... I... I admired you, okay? And... When I saw what happened, I wasn't sure how to react!'

The teen's heart was pounding in his chest as he read and re-read his message, all the while waiting for the fusion to respond. It was as if all that existed was him, his phone, and his deafening heart beat; a noise so loud it even blocked out his music.

> 'You... actually admired me...? Me as in _me_ me? I mean, I know I'm pretty great or whatever but I didn't think you _actually_ admired me... have you ever considered re-evaluating your life choices?'

After all of that worrying, Kirishima couldn't help but snort at the message. As big of a confession as that might have been for the red-head, to Enstatite, that would obviously just have been another boost to his ego. Moving to shoot back a message of his own, the teen stopped shy of the first button press as he noticed Enstatite begin typing again.

> 'Sorry'
> 
> 'By the way'
> 
> 'Y'know for getting defensive... It's just, when people have found out in the past, they've never reacted... let's say _positively_. I guess I just sort of got defensive when I noticed the same thing happening with you'

With eyebrows furrowed in concern, Kirishima changed what he was initially going to say.

> 'Do you want to talk about it? I guess I kinda owe you that, since, y'know, I've been ghosting you for a while'
> 
> 'Nah, don't worry about it dude; I don't really want to think about it'

Having slid down into his bed, Kirishima moved to sit back up-right against his head board, and brought his arm up to rub at his eyes; suppressing a yawn as he brought both his arm and phone back down to type out another 'risky' message. 

> 'So... we cool?'

There was another momentary pause in which, like last time, Enstatite seemed to hesitate on what to say; his message bubble popping up and disappearing several times before he replied.

> 'Whatever, Pop-Rocks; we're good. You'd've found out anyway since you got into UA; they're forcing me to spend most of my time in the hero course split apart'

With his interest suddenly caught, Kirishima couldn't help but let his curiosity wonder at what it would be like to interact with the two teens he'd seen when Enstatite had split. Going off of the man's choice to describe himself as a fusion, he had implied that he was a mixture of both of those teens- however Kirishima had no idea if that fusion was just skin deep, or much more complex. I mean, it was clear from the short glimpse he had gotten of them that Enstatite's skin was a mix of the green boy's skin, and the blond boy's... well, skin coloured skin, but without the chance to interact with either of them he had no way of knowing if they both acted like Enstatite, or if they acted completely different.

Now, logic would dictate that they would act not-completely different, but instead-

> 'Jesus Christ I can _hear_ you thinking and it sounds awful; if you want to ask about it then fine, but if you'd rather just sit there awake all night then don't let me stop you.'

Looking down at his phone after its pinging had interrupted his train of though, Kirishima froze, and his eyes began to carefully scan his room for any possible hidden cameras that might have been there. After a minute, when the teen was finally sure that there was no possible way that Enstatite could be watching him, he finally moved to type out a reply.

> 'Yeah, okay... I'd like that'
> 
> 'But'
> 
> 'I'm not really sure where to start..?'

Before Enstatite could respond to his message, Kirishima's phone pinged with another incoming message. Tapping to open it up, the teen was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually from Mina. 

Wait a second, when had he given her his number again? Their chat logs made it pretty obvious that they hadn't spoken before now, other than the odd message here and there; the last one being... two years ago at this point? Huh... Guess they did exchange numbers at some point.

> 'Hey Kiri! E said ya were finally responding to texts, so I'd figure I'd say congrats on getting in 4th! I came 7th! So, I guess we'll be stuck with each other once again, huh? XD Anyway, like I said, congrats!'

Reading her message served to make Kirishima flush slightly in embarrassment, and despite the fact that there was literally no way that she could see, the teen still found himself looking away from his phone; nervous. The message ran through his mind in her voice, almost as as if she were there with him, and he could just imagine the bubbly way she'd bounce around as she spoke. Fumbling slightly, Kirishima was quick to send back a reply.

> 'Heyyyyy, Mina; thanks! And, congrats yourself! 7th place for the best hero school in the country? You're great!'
> 
> 'I mean, _that's_ great!'
> 
> 'Not to say that you're _not_ great, or anything, but, you get what I mean!'

With an embarrassed groan that sounded more like the teen was constipated than anything, Kirishima rammed the edge of his phone against his forehead several times before, with a sigh, bringing it back down to see if she'd responded. She had, and, so had Enstatite.

> 'Yeah, dw! Anyway, I'm gonna go to bed now but I'll see ya in UA!'
> 
> 'Well, you can ask whatever you want within reason; doesn't mean I'll answer though'

Taking a moment to still his beating heart, Kirishima let a small smile bloom on his face; his earlier worries beginning to eventually fade from the forefront of his mind, as he embraced the happiness just talking with someone was bringing him. This was it, wasn't it? What he'd always wanted.

This was his fresh start, and he refused to let his own self-doubt ruin it.

Reaching towards his laptop to adjust the volume, Kirishima moved it off of his legs and to the side; letting it rest next to him in the bed, before awkwardly manoeuvring himself under his duvet and properly laying down to rest. After a few minutes of shifting until he was comfortable, Kirishima pulled his phone back up to reply to Enstatite.

> 'Alright then...'
> 
> 'Uh... well, who are you two?'
> 
> 'I mean! Who are the people that... make you?'
> 
> 'What are they like?'
> 
> 'If, you're okay with telling me that is!'


	6. Introductions

Bakugou was hyper-aware of everything, and it was pissing him off.

From the uncomfortable creases in his shirt and in his trousers, to the tightness of his barely-worn shoes pressing against his feet; every single time the fabric would brush against his body, and every time he was unable to stretch his toes, the teen could feel his anger rise by a couple of notches.

On top of it all, the sky was clear of clouds, allowing the bastard sun to bare down on him as if it were just _trying_ to make him uncomfortably sweaty. His fingers tapped out a pattern of four against their front gate whilst he waited for Midoriya to hurry up and leave the house, and try as he might, he couldn't stop said pattern from increasing in speed the longer he waited. The gate itself was just as bad as his clothes; being rusted with slightly flaky paint, but it was the only thing he could tap that would make the specific ringing sound he hated _slightly less_ than every other sound of the things he had tapped.

Though, as much as he wanted to blame Midoriya for being so goddamn _slow_ , he knew he couldn't. After all, it wasn't necessarily that Midoriya was being _slow_ , it was actually that _Bakugou_ had rushed through his whole morning routine. From brushing his teeth, to making and eating breakfast, to putting on his uniform and kissing his mums and dad goodbye he hadn't even taken a moment to stop and relax... and now that he was being _forced_ to stop, he _couldn't_ relax.

God, he wanted to scream.

It felt so strange to be outside as _him_ , and not as Enstatite. He'd stood in his garden countless times before; he'd walked these _streets_ countless times before; he'd _drummed_ his _fingers_ on the _gate_ countless times before, and yet it all felt foreign; it all felt unfamiliar, as if he didn't really belong here even though he _knew_ he did.

Honestly, he just wanted to get today over and done with. It hadn't even been an hour since they'd un-fused and Bakugou's skin was _crawling_ with discomfort.

Fuck Aizawa for making him go through with this.

Fuck Nezu too, but, y'know... a little less, since the rat was letting him fuse when not in lesson.

Almost as if answering his prayers, the door to the house slowly swung inwards to reveal Midoriya, stood with Inko; her lips pressed to his forehead. The teen was bouncing on the balls of his feet; a big, dopey grin spread across his face, and his obnoxious yellow backpack slung over his shoulder. He was also wearing his new uniform, obviously, since they were going to school, but Bakugou couldn't help but feel envious of the fact that _somehow_ it wasn't bugging him; that goes for the uniform _and_ being split apart.

A few words were exchanged between the pair, that due to distance and lack of trying, Bakugou couldn't make out, before after a ruffling of his hair Midoriya left the house and Inko closed the door behind him. The nerd was practically beaming when he finally faced Bakugou, though, there was a stiffness to his posture that in an extremely morbid way actually served to make the blond feel better.

"Morning Kacchan! Sorry about making you wait!" Chirping out an apology, Midoriya was quick to skip down to Bakugou, who, noticing his approach, pushed himself away from the gate; letting the rhythm he'd been tapping out die half way to completion. Opening his mouth to dismiss the green teen, Bakugou found his lungs lacking air as Midoriya purposefully fell forwards into him; giggling, and letting his arms slide underneath the blond's whilst pressing his face into his chest.

Bakugou spluttered for a moment, having had to take a step back to save the two from falling, before after a few minutes of being hugged, planting his hand into Midoriya's birds nest of hair and letting out a content sigh; noticing that the earlier tension Midoriya had been carrying had dissipated alongside his own. It might not be as good as being fused, but being like this? Being like this was nice; being like this _quelled_ crawling of his skin, and, should the situation arise? Being like this; being this _close_... it would mean they could fuse on a dime, and they wouldn't have to fight tooth and nail to get back to each other.

The soft smile slowly fell from Bakugou's face as his mind was cast back to Aldera; his hand pausing it's petting motion. Suddenly, he was no longer stood outside his house; suddenly, the sun was no longer beating down on him, and suddenly, Midoriya wasn't with him anymore. Suddenly, he was back inside of those industrial corridors; suddenly, the only sunlight he could see was through the crack in the windows that they'd forgotten to paint over and suddenly he was on the ground.

His heart was pounding so hard it felt as if it were going to collapse in on itself, and the blood that caked his face was back. There were whispers coming from behind him, and he couldn't let them find him; not again. With his legs shaking from exhaustion Bakugou crawled further into the tunnel; unable to pull his hands free from their bindings to help. In the darkness, his mind would play tricks on him; making him see figures that weren't really there at the ends of corridors.

In the end, the only reason Bakugou had been able to make progress through that hell as quick as he had was because he'd figured out that he could differentiate between actual people and the shadows he'd see, based on the fact that the shadows wouldn't try and attack him when he got close to them.

"Kacchan, hey! Focus on me, okay? Come on, you're fine; you're safe; just breathe!" Blinking rapidly, Bakugou was back outside; his hands being squeezed tight in Midoriya's own, and much to his relief his mind was quick to catch up with him. Noticing that Bakugou was back, Midoriya fell quiet as he continued to squeeze the teen's hands; rubbing circles into them with his thumbs.

When he realised what had happened, Bakugou was quick to screw his eyes tight and pull Midoriya in close enough so that the taller could plop his head down onto the green teen's shoulder. He knew it wasn't his fault; he _knew_ that thinking about Aldera was a bad idea... but he'd _thought_ that he'd moved passed that phase by now; that phase that served to do nothing but remind him how _weak_ he'd been; how weak he still _was_!

Maybe it was because he was going to a new school now. Maybe it was because he was worried that they'd have to go through all of that _again_. Or maybe he'd just been fooling himself into thinking he'd gotten better.

Neither wanted to move anymore. Midoriya's bounce was gone, and in its place was worry and caring as he placed his chin on the back of Bakugou's own shoulder, to allow the blond to cuddle into him even closer. Midoriya knew what it was like, too. His... _experience_... had been a little different to Bakugou's, but... those events had left them both with lasting memories.

But, as comfortable and comforting as being in each other's arms was, they both knew that if they didn't leave now, they'd be late on their first day at UA. And with Aizawa as their teacher? He wouldn't care what their excuse was; he'd just expel them for being late.

Whilst Bakugou backed away from Midoriya so that they could finally set off, Midoriya wasn't as content with letting go himself; only releasing _one_ of Bakugou's hands whilst keeping the other in a reassuring grip. The two locked eyes, and though their minds were separated in that moment, they didn't _need_ to be together for Bakugou to understand the look Midoriya was giving him. With a small, thankful smile, Bakugou finally turned and walked out of the gate; pulling Midoriya along with him.

All the while, the two were oblivious to the three pairs of eyes, watching them from the living room window.

The walk to UA itself was a quiet one, and not really what Midoriya had been hoping for when he had un-fused that morning, but he completely understood why. The walk itself was exciting enough though without having to talk to Bakugou; between the few villain attacks that they'd passed on their way to the school, and all of the people in the streets shouting congratulations at them for getting into UA, there wasn't really a dull moment. 

Though, that excitement was quick to transition into an unwelcome nervousness as they finally arrived back at the school's barrier. Both teens tensed, and as if on instinct both teens gripped each other's hand tighter. Midoriya could feel it, calling to him at the edges of his mind; how easy it would be to let them fuse... but he held off, and settled for rubbing his thumb over Bakugou's hand again. They needed to prove that they could do this; after all, just like Aizawa had told them on the day of the entrance exam, they weren't going to receive special treatment here.

For everything that fusion meant to them; for as much as it was a part of their every day lives, it was only possible thanks to Midoriya's quirk. Hell, the only reason they could get away with it in public was because no one knew; because he had Bakugou's explosions; a quirk so far removed from fusion that it was an easy story to believe that Enstatite was just a regular person. But at UA, they _knew_ Enstatite was the result of Midoriya using his quirk, and despite knowing what it meant to them, ultimately they just didn't _care_.

Besides, it wasn't as if they needed to last the _whole_ day apart. Midoriya had spent a lot of time memorising the conditions in which they _were_ and were _not_ allowed to be fused, mainly because he didn't want an accidental fusion to result in them being expelled. They were allowed to be fused, normally, wherever and whenever they wanted, as long as they were separated during their regular lessons, as well as their solo hero lessons. The only caveat to those rules was given to them in their acceptance letters.

They needed to show-up to UA, every day, un-fused. It had been explained in those very same letters that the reason for the additional rule was courtesy of Aizawa, who had meant to bring it up in their initial meeting, but had 'forgotten'. Neither teen knew what to make of that.

A few students passed them and, as to not be in their way, Midoriya guided the two of them off to the side of the barrier whilst they both, for lack of a better term, prepared themselves. No one, thankfully, payed them any mind; though Midoriya's paranoia had him checking over his shoulder ever now and again; the itching feeling of being watched never fully leaving. Though Enstatite's issues were without a doubt a mixture of both of theirs, a large majority of them, as you might expect, came from Midoriya; being green, and having a gem stuck in his sternal was bound to draw the unwanted attention of others.

"Hey, Nerd, you good? We can wait here until you are, but if we wait any longer we're gonna be late; we're already pushing it," Bakugou mumbled, snapping his fingers in front of Midoriya's face. Midoriya startled backwards slightly, before pouting up at Bakugou with a half-hearted glare. Bakugou merely stared back down at him with his usual smug, toothy grin; though just like with Midoriya's glare, it was clear that his heart wasn't in it; his smile was strained, and he was still clutching onto Midoriya's hand like a life-line.

"Yo! Bakugou; Midoriya, that you?" Both teens were quick to turn as the voice of a new-comer pulled them from their own personal world, causing said new-comer to flinch backwards; their hand dropping slightly from its raised greeting. It took a moment for either teen to register who the other actually was, however when they did, their stand-off-ish posture was quick to relax.

"Kirishima? What the fuck have you done to your hair?" Bakugou chuckled, amused. Kirishima re-raised his hand, though this time to run it through his spiked, red hair as he approached the duo; looking just as tense as Midoriya had that morning.

"I... uh... surprise? I just... You know how I was talking about reinventing myself, yeah? Well... this was my first step..?" Midoriya and Bakugou shared a look, before they turned back to Kirishima and blinded him with the power of Midoriya's smile.

"Whatever, if it's what you wanna do then who the fuck am I to say anything..." Bakugou shrugged, going to cross his arms in indifference, however pausing as he realised he'd have to let go of Midoriya's hand to do so, and indignantly let his hands fall back to his sides.

"Kacchan's right! As long as you're happy then don't let anyone make you feel bad about it!" Midoriya's attitude as it turns out was rather infectious, as Kirishima found himself smiling along with the teen; his reservations about what they might think of him being quick to fade into the background. He should have expected it, really; from what Enstatite had told him about his two halves, they were going to be just as much his friend as Enstatite himself was, but... All of the talking in the world couldn't stop his mind from thinking of the 'what if's.

"Thanks! And... All right! Yeah! Anyway, let's get going; we don't wanna be late, right?" Awkwardly shooting a thumb in the direction of the main building, Kirishima gave an equally awkward smile as Midoriya and Bakugou looked back at each other to engage in silent conversation; leaving him feeling like more of a third wheel than anything else. When they finally looked back to Kirishima, Midoriya flashed him another bright smile before running over to walk side by side with him; dragging Bakugou by the hand as he hung back ever so slightly.

"Crimson Riot's your favourite hero isn't he? Is that why you chose red?" Midoriya asked, his eyes wide and curious as they passed through the front doors. Kirishima was quick to snap his head down to the teen, a brief flicker of surprise on his face, before it was masked by a sharp-toothed grin that would have made Enstatite proud.

"Hell yeah! I'm surprised you remembered he was my favourite hero though? I'm pretty sure I only ever mentioned it once?" Turning a corner and ascending a flight of stairs the trio made their way even deeper into the bowls of the school.

"I, uh... I kinda really like hero stuff? I... I know that it's pretty nerdy, or whatever, but... I'm _really_ into the hero industry; I love quirks as well!" 

"Hey man, that's great! Like you told me, as long as it makes you happy, then don't let anyone make you feel bad about it, yeah? Doesn't matter if it's nerdy!" Kirishima cheered, earning a grunt of approval from Bakugou as Midoriya turned away bashfully.

"So, uh, who's you guy's favourite hero?" Turning another few corners and ascending another several flights of stairs, the trio finally arrived on one of the first year hero course floors. The building layout was strange, but it wasn't too hard to navigate. The first few floors of every tower were dedicated to locker rooms, study halls; libraries, and other utilities in the same vein, and after that ascending the building were the course specific classrooms. 

"Well, uh... Mine and Kacchan's favourite hero is All Might! But, when we're Enstatite, we're a huge Miruko fan!"

"Huh, Really? How's that work?" With a furrowed brow, Kirishima glanced back at Bakugou, as if expecting him to answer, however found that the teen had his eyes closed; his head tilted up to the ceiling, and was letting Midoriya guide him through the halls. Noticing Midoriya watching him, Kirishima didn't comment on it, and turned back to face where he was going.

"Well, unless me or Kacchan are taking majority control, Enstatite is basically his own person, y'know? He has his own thoughts; his own feelings; his own likes and dislikes; he might even have a different sexuality from us, though... we aren't actually sure about that one. I'm bi and Kacchan's gay, but Enstatite hasn't really experienced _romantic_ attraction towards _anyone_ before..." Bakugou cracked an eye open to watch Kirishima's reaction to that bombshell, though neither he nor Midoriya seemed to notice.

"Oh, right; I know you've said something similar before, but I guess I just never thought it went that deep." Finally coming upon the class 1-A door, the trio stopped moving, and they all fell into silence; the casual air they had been working so hard to maintain suffocated in the collective anxiety that the three teens were managing to generate. The door itself was huge, something that Midoriya and Bakugou were thankful for, though Kirishima found it rather intimidating, and down the middle written in big, blocky red letters was the class designation '1-A'.

There was a muffled noise coming from the other side of the door; other teens that had arrived before them presumably chatting with each other and getting to know one another, and as Kirishima reached out a hand to grab at the door's handle, he paused; closing his eyes and taking in a breath. As he let it go an enthusiastic grin spread across his face, and though you could tell it was strained, it seemed as if the teen had changed his whole demeanour; his anxiety gone and in its place an unshakeable confidence.

"Alright, let's do this!" He cheered, much to the amusement of the other two teens, before with a start he practically ripped the door to the side; opening it wide for all those inside to see the trio. Bakugou and Midoriya took pause, the amusement gone as they realised with the eyes of seventeen other people staring at them that they hadn't been ready in the slightest to enter yet, however, as Kirishima plowed forwards into the room with his new-found confidence, they followed along anyway; not wanting to be left behind.

The pair's eyes were immediately drawn to Mina, and they couldn't help but smile at seeing her here. They'd already known that she'd gotten in, but to actually _see_ her here filled them with a strange sense of pride. Noticing that she'd gotten their attention, she flashed them a smile of her own; bounding over from the desk she had been perched on, and leaving behind the girl she had been talking with.

"Yo, whassup guys! Welcome to UA! My name's Mina, it's nice to meet 'ya!" Offering the two of them a hand each, presumably to shake, both Midoriya and Bakugou shared a look; realisation dawning on them. Mina had no idea who they were; somehow, both of them had _forgotten_ to _tell her_. Proceeding to bite the bullet, the two turned back to Mina, who though looking rather concerned, still had her hands out to shake, and resolved to tell her the next time they were alone.

Smiling back at her, Midoriya took her hand in his free one an animatedly shook it; Bakugou doing the same, though, quite obviously uncomfortable.

"Hey Mina, it's... it's nice to meet you too! My name's Midoriya, and this is Bakugou!" Nodding his head towards him, Mina turned and gave Bakugou another smile, before turning back to Midoriya with an even bigger grin as she looked him up and down.

"You look really cool by the way! You're like me, but green; we should be rainbow buddies!" Snorting, Bakugou turned away from the two as he chuckled to himself. With a fond glance to Bakugou, Midoriya turned back to Mina and nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah! That... that sounds fun! I've... I've never had a rainbow buddy before!" Bakugou began to curl into himself even harder as his chuckling turned to repressed cackling; earning himself the attention of a few other students in the room. Before Mina could respond, her eyes were caught by the glinting of Midoriya's gem, and as recognition flashed through her mind, she couldn't help but let her smile fall ever so slightly.

She recognised that gem; she'd recognise it anywhere; how couldn't she considering who it was supposed to be attached to, but... Looking Midoriya up and down once more, this time putting him under far for scrutiny that anyone would have been comfortable with, Mina couldn't see any sort of resemblance. After all, Enstatite's skin wasn't green, not like Midoriya's. Sure, Enstatite's skin had _patches_ of green; the claw-mark like streaks that spread across his face being the most prominent of those patches, but he wasn't _fully_ green; his green was also far more faded. Their hair was different as well; they shared the same colour, but the actual style was far more like-

Looking back over to Bakugou, Mina was transfixed by his hair. His sharp, jagged, Enstatite-like hair. The only difference was the length. Something was going on here; something was _wrong_ , and for as hard as she tried, Mina couldn't quite tell what it was. Letting her head droop slightly in contemplation, she found herself looking at their intertwined hands- but her attention was quickly taken by what she saw _behind_ those hands. Just to the side of the doorway, laying on the ground in a cocoon-like sleeping bag, was a tired, homeless-looking man; staring at her with cold, dead eyes.

"At least one of you noticed that I'm here, even if it _was_ by accident..." Her mouth flapped uselessly as she stared the man down, and as, with a groan, he finally got to his feet, she silently watched as he made his way over to the front of the classroom; hopping rather comically until he reached the teachers desk- giving her quite the horrific epiphany that this man might very well be her new teacher.

Midoriya and Bakugou had noticed her odd behaviour, and so when she finally began to follow some invisible force with her head, they turned to look at what had so successfully captured her attention; staring in disbelief when they _too_ finally noticed that Aizawa had made his way into the classroom. Though the teacher was occupied trying to hop his way to the front of the room without falling, the man still found a way to turn his head towards the two of them, and give what from him was a polite nod of the head.

The others in the classroom didn't notice Aizawa either; busy talking amongst themselves, albeit except one person who was sat at the back of the classroom alone; his bi-coloured hair shadowing his eyes as he looked down at his book. It was only when the man finally made his way to his desk, and unzipped and stepped out of his sleeping bag, did a few of the more silent people in the room take notice of him. Aizawa quietly cleared his throat, before, with an obviously shit-eating grin, did he raise a fist and slam it down on his desk; the aggressive banging sound being quick to draw the attention of all in the room; one of the boys, a rather short one with purple balls where his hair would be, letting out an undignified scream.

"I'm Aizawa Shota, your homeroom teacher for the next few years. I was waiting by the door for one of you to notice me since the first one of you arrived, and I'm sad to say that it took until the last three people showed up for any of you to even _accidentally_ see me. That's unacceptable," Bending down to rummage through the sleeping bag at his feet, the man took a hold of the several p.e. uniforms buried within it, before popping back up with them in hand. "The other hero course classes are going to be going to orientation, but not you. Here at UA, I have complete control over how my class is run, so we're going to go and do an apprehension test. Go put these on and meet me outside in five minutes. If you're not there, you're expelled." With his piece said, Aizawa let the uniform stack flop onto his desk, before bending down one last time to grab his sleeping bag, before proceeding to shuffle his way out the door. 

The class watched as Aizawa left; the atmosphere dead, before they all looked to the p.e. uniforms stacked on his desk. Like being in the eye of a hurricane, all knew that in a few seconds the calm of the room was going to be horrifically destroyed. And as the ball haired student let loose what was probably supposed to be a war-cry of 'every man for himself', the prophecy came true.


End file.
